| Tuesday, January 23, 2018 |
| Universities, colleges seek more funds, outline budget woes | |
 | Leaders of Mississippi's eight public universities are ringing alarm bells about state funding, saying they could lose their ability to compete if funding cuts from recent years aren't restored. In presentations Monday to legislators, Higher Education Commissioner Glenn Boyce and university presidents warned that Mississippi could fall further behind the nation economically if its universities can't keep pace. "We live in a really competitive world and our competitor universities understand that investing in their higher education system is the surest way to have a competitive advantage," Boyce told the House Appropriations Committee. |
| University presidents: Future of Mississippi is at stake | |
 | Presidents from all eight public universities made a sobering plea to lawmakers Monday: For the sake of Mississippi's future and students paying tuition, we need more money. Sen. Briggs Hopson, R-Vicksburg, the chairman of the IHL appropriations subcommittee, said after the meeting that the presidents had made clear the role their universities play in building the future of Mississippi. "We're in our second year of no pay raises," said Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State University. "The thought of doing it for a third year is really going to be devastating to us." "We offer a great bargain for our students, but no one likes to raise tuition," Keenum said. "What are our alternatives if we don't get any additional funding (from the Legislature)?" |
| Wary, Weary or Both, Southern Lawmakers Tone Down Culture Wars | |
 | With elections looming and major corporations watching, the social issues that have provoked bitter fights in recent years across the conservative South -- including restroom access for transgender people and so-called religious freedom measures -- are gaining little legislative momentum in statehouses this year. Democratic and Republican officials, advocacy groups and researchers say that other, less contentious subjects are taking center stage, while fewer new hot-button social bills are being introduced and pending ones are languishing. "I do think there's a recognition that we've got some really big things to do," said Greg Snowden, a Republican state representative in Mississippi who serves as speaker pro tempore. "You can't go to war on everything all the time." Mississippi passed, and has so far successfully defended in court, a law allowing people to use their religious beliefs to justify refusing to provide services to gay people. |
| Education bill gets mixed reaction: Potential teacher pay raises cause conflict | |
 | The Mississippi House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 957, and, if signed into law, the measure would change the way schools receive state funding. Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Moak, a Bogue Chitto attorney, is one of HB 957's most outspoken critics. He claims the legislation's new funding formula amounts to a sequence of "smoke and mirrors." "They're telling a lot of these school districts that, in the first few years of this new formula, the districts will receive more funding than they did with MAEP," he said. "On its face, their promise is true. Except, they'll have to find $107 million to fund the new program, and they don't have that kind of money." Meanwhile, most of the bill's supporters believe it will help public schools balance their yearly budgets and put an end to any lingering uncertainty surrounding the subsidization of public education. |
| Harrison County attorney: PEER's problems with supervisors' travel stemmed from clerical errors | |
 | Harrison County supervisors bought alcohol and took taxis to restaurants on the taxpayers' dime, according to a report from the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review. Board attorney Tim Holleman found that part of PEER's report particularly vexing, although he didn't agree with much of the report. It also had recommendations about county work centers, escrow spending and open meetings compliance. "The press drives me crazy when they mention alcoholic drinks," Holleman said. "It was one bill with two glasses of wine and a bloody mary." He said the supervisor marked the drinks off the bill and turned it in with an expense report, which was processed by a staff member who didn't notice the drinks were marked off and issued a check for the whole bill. |
| 2 women file to run for congressional seat in Mississippi | |
| A state lawmaker and a business executive are the latest to enter the Republican primary for an open congressional seat in Mississippi. Sally Doty is an attorney from Brookhaven and has served in the state Senate since 2012. Morgan Dunn is managing director of Vestra LLC, a health care consulting firm in Magee. The two women filed qualifying papers Monday to run in central Mississippi's 3rd District. Five Republicans are now in the primary. Mississippi and Vermont are the only states that have never elected a woman to the U.S. House or Senate, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. |
| Two women join the GOP field to represent Mississippi in Congress | |
| Sally Doty, a Republican state senator from Brookhaven, has officially joined the race to run for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Rep. Gregg Harper. Doty signed qualifying papers Monday at the Republican Party headquarters. Also on Monday, business executive Morgan Dunn filed qualifying papers, according to an Associated Press report. Doty, an attorney who chairs the Senate Energy committee, and Dunn, managing director of Vestra LLC --- a health care consulting firm in Magee, are vying to be the first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Congress. |
| Congressional Candidate Whit Hughes Stops By Golden Triangle | |
 | Madison businessman Whit Hughes, who's looking to fill Congressman Gregg Harper's seat, makes a stop in the Golden Triangle Monday. Hughes is one of five running to fill the house seat to represent Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District. Hughes, a former Mississippi State basketball all-star, says this is the first time he's run for office and he says jobs for Mississippians is one thing he wants to tackle. "With my campaign, you can expect me to talk about traditional issues like protection of life and protection of the second amendment and free and fair markets. But honestly what's foremost on people's mind right now is jobs and the economy and how to bring opportunities to communities like Starkville and you know that really speaks to my background and my skill set and relationships," he says. |
| Five candidates vying for U.S. House seat in Mississippi | |
 | With just more than a month left before the qualifying deadline, a total of five candidates have thrown their hats in the ring so far for the open congressional seat in Mississippi. Following a decade in office, Republican incumbent Gregg Harper announced earlier this year he would not be running for re-election for central Mississippi's 3rd District seat. Candidates' filing deadline is March 1 and party primaries are June 5. The general election is Nov. 5. Here's a look at the five candidates, all Republican, who have qualified so far. |
| Chris McDaniel: I'm still debating whether to challenge Sen. Roger Wicker | |
 | State Senator Chris McDaniel says he is still unsure if he will challenge U.S. Senator Roger Wicker in the upcoming June Republican Primary. McDaniel spoke Monday at the Union County Republican Women's Club meeting. The lawmaker from South Mississippi says he does not feel rushed to make a decision. Qualifying for the primary ends March 1. He also did not rule out running for lieutenant governor next year. |
| Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer comes under fire over funding deal | |
 | Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is coming under criticism from his own party in the aftermath of a fight that shut down the government for three days and left Democrats with little to show for it. Some of Schumer's Democratic colleagues are questioning the wisdom of getting into a three-day standoff with Republicans over a stopgap-spending bill and then backing down after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) offered a modest concession. "We went in with a very weak set of cards, with [25] people up for re-election," said one Democratic senator, one of several lawmakers who requested anonymity to assess Schumer's performance frankly. Another Democratic senator said almost every local news channel he spoke to over the weekend began its interview with the same question, "Why did Democrats shut down the government?" |
| As shutdown eases federal workers fear prospect of another | |
| The swift steps ending a messy and expensive government shutdown set the stage for hundreds of thousands of federal workers to return Tuesday, but some say they fear they could find themselves in limbo again in a few more weeks. Congress sped toward moving to reopen government after Democrats reluctantly voted to temporarily pay for resumed operations on Monday afternoon. The House approved the measure shortly thereafter, sending the spending bill to President Donald Trump, who quickly signed it. For days, the shutdown effectively cleaved the federal workforce in half as hundreds of thousands of workers were sent home while others declared essential employees stayed on the job. |
| Trump open to expanding Dreamer protection to 1.2 million despite campaign vow | |
 | The White House has tentatively agreed to provide legal status to as many as 1.2 million so-called Dreamers -- far more than the 690,000 currently protected under an expiring Obama-era program -- as part of a broader immigration deal, according to three people familiar with the negotiations. The agreement is likely to anger those who voted for President Donald Trump because he pledged to crack down on illegal immigration and end the program granting temporary, renewable work permits to young immigrants. The 1.2 million figure would include immigrants who would be eligible under the original criteria for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. |
| Trump Slaps Tariffs On Imported Solar Panels And Washing Machines | |
 | Pledging to defend American businesses and workers, President Trump imposed tariffs on imported solar panel components and large residential washing machines on Monday. In a statement, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that, after consulting with the interagency Trade Policy Committee and the bipartisan U.S. International Trade Commission, the president decided that "increased foreign imports of washers and solar cells and modules are a substantial cause of serious injury to domestic manufacturers." The move against imported solar components splits the solar panel industry with manufacturers favoring the tariffs as a necessary step to save domestic subsidiary companies, while installers oppose them as job-killers. |
| Walmart raises, bonuses to affect 15,000 Mississippi workers | |
| More than 15,000 employees of Walmart and Sam's Club in Mississippi will get a one-time bonus from the company, and 11,000 full-time workers also will be getting a raise. Walmart's announcement comes on the heels of the company announcing earlier this month that it was giving bonuses and raises to more than 1 million workers -- which it calls "associates" -- in the aftermath of the change in the tax law signed by President Donald Trump. In addition to the pay increases and bonuses, Walmart said it would expand maternity and parental leave benefits. Among the moves is a new benefit to help associates with adoption expenses. |
| U. of Mississippi Police Department chief of police resigns to be closer to family | |
| After two and a half years as the University of Mississippi Police Department's chief of police, Tim Potts is going back home to Indiana to be closer to his family. Potts, 52, told the EAGLE Monday that he will be leaving Ole Miss this week. "I have accepted a chief of police position at Purdue Fort Wayne in Indiana," Potts said. Potts started his position as chief of police at UPD in July 2015 after moving from Indiana, where he worked at Purdue University Police Department for 18 years, reaching the rank of captain before coming to Ole Miss. The university has not yet hired a new chief of police and is currently accepting applications for the position. |
| USM ranked among top universities in state for online classes | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi is ranked the 2nd top public university for online courses in the state of Mississippi. The school has approximately 15,000 students with more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Southern Miss also has a graduation rate of 50 percent. Several degrees are offered at the university in areas such as business administration, applied technology, and education. |
| Alan Dedeaux elected chair of Pearl River Community College Board of Trustees | |
 | Pearl River Community College's Board of Trustees has elected new officers for the next two years at the Poplarville school. Alan Dedeaux, of Kiln, a Hancock County representative on the 16-member governing board since 2008, takes over as chairman. Dedeaux is the Hancock County School District's superintendent of education. Dedeaux replaces Alan Lumpkin of Carriere, superintendent of education for Pearl River County, who has resigned from the board of trustees. He is replaced on the board by assistant superintendent Missy Holston, a PRCC alumnus who served on the board of trustees from 2010-11. The board also elected Tess Smith of Sumrall, Lamar County superintendent of education and a member of the board since 2014, vice chairman. M.L. "Sonny" Knight is the board secretary. He has been a member of the board since 1995. |
| U. of Alabama may have violated First Amendment by kicking out racist student, experts say | |
 | (Note: This article contains explicit and potentially offensive terms that are essential to reporting on this situation.) The cases were similar and the punishment was the same. Not even three years ago, many Americans applauded as the University of Oklahoma kicked out two fraternity members for their role in helping lead a racist chant that was recorded and went viral. But despite popular support for that decision and the shuttering of the campus chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, legal experts said the institution had actually flouted the students' First Amendment rights, which protects even the vilest of speech. Now, a student at the University of Alabama has been expelled after she posted videos to Instagram rife with racial slurs, also earning her national condemnation. The same arguments arise again -- did the university, a public institution operating as a government representative, break the law? |
| Tuscaloosa County School System moves to hold graduations at U. of Alabama | |
 | The Tuscaloosa County School System will move all six of its high school graduation ceremonies this spring to Coleman Coliseum on the University of Alabama campus. Previously, each school in the county system had hosted its own graduation ceremony. Last week, the school system received permission from the UA to use the coliseum for its high schools' graduations on May 12, when about 1,200 seniors will graduate. That means county high school graduations will be split into three sessions, with two schools in each session. The decision to hold multiple graduation ceremonies in the same room has been met with some backlash from parents on social media, ranging from frustration to having to share graduation time with other schools to anger that the school system would move graduations away from their home schools. |
| Public TV documentary series on agriculture to highlight Auburn research | |
 | Auburn University research and Extension will be a central focus of "Spotlight on Agriculture," an upcoming Alabama Public Television documentary series about the state's agricultural industry. The series will debut on APT Monday, Feb. 5, at 9 p.m. CST, but the Auburn campus and community are invited to an advance screening of the one-hour program Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 5 p.m. in the Mell Classroom Building, room 2550, on the Auburn campus. The screening is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. "Auburn agriculture experts conduct sound, useful research and put it into the hands of those who can best use it," Auburn President Steven Leath said. "We appreciate Alabama Public Television producing a series highlighting the role these researchers and the results of their hard work play in society." The "Spotlight on Agriculture" documentary series will include at least eight episodes that will air throughout 2018 and 2019. |
| UGA's Marshall Shepherd talks challenge of communicating science to public | |
 | One of the University of Georgia's top scientists on Monday described the challenges of communicating science to non-scientists in the university's annual Founder's Day Lecture. One challenge Marshall Shepherd said fellow scientists should avoid is using technical jargon when dealing with an American public that's not scientifically literate. One in four Americans believe the sun revolves around the earth, he said. Half believe antibiotics will kill viruses, and significant minorities believe that the earth is flat, or that the water vapor contrails behind flying aircraft are actually chemicals, said Shepherd, an atmospheric scientist in UGA's Geography Department and head of the department's nationally known atmospheric sciences program. But Americans also have a kind of faith in science, Shepherd told a crowd in the university's chapel. "Americans believe in science, just not its findings," he said. |
| LSU extends deadline on recommendations aimed at rooting out dangerous Greek life behaviors | |
 | LSU's highly anticipated action plan to eliminate hazing and other dangerous fraternity and sorority behaviors is being delayed by three weeks, the school announced Monday. LSU President F. King Alexander created the Task Force on Greek Life after 18-year-old freshman Max Gruver died in what police have described as a hazing incident at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house. Gruver, who was pledging the fraternity, was forced to chug alcohol during an initiation game, and died because of alcohol poisoning and choking on his own vomit, police said. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.495. The 11-person task force was expected to deliver recommendations that would shape new university policy by the end of this month. Alexander has previously said he hoped the recommendations could help make LSU a leader in the new era of eliminating hazing and rooting out dangerous Greek life behaviors. |
| U. of Arkansas Chancellor Joe Steinmetz not afraid to make big decisions | |
| Joe Steinmetz was 23 months into his job as University of Arkansas chancellor when many state residents heard his name for the first time. That was in November, when Steinmetz fired Athletic Director Jeff Long as a prelude to the dismissal of football Coach Bret Bielema. In Arkansas, news from The Hill doesn't get much bigger than that, even when the football program is down. Maybe especially then. By early December, replacements were in place: former University of Houston Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek and former Southern Methodist University Coach Chad Morris. Although many people influenced the process, Steinmetz readily takes responsibility for the final decisions. And like the research scientist he was for most of his career, he knows how he'll measure this real-life experiment. |
| Texas A&M to host diversity conference on Feb. 2 | |
 | Registration is underway for the inaugural Race, Identity and Social Equity Conference hosted Feb. 2 by Texas A&M's Department of Multicultural Services. The free program, called RISE for short, provides a space for students, faculty and staff to engage research and issues related to diversity and inclusion within higher education. It will include sessions, student-led research presentations and a keynote speaker. Diversity advocate Thomas Hill, senior vice president emeritus at Iowa State University, will be the conference's keynote speaker. The program is modeled after the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity program, which is comprised of a yearlong undergraduate research fellowship and the conference. |
| Echoes of fall 2015 apparent at U. of Missouri provost forum | |
 | Issues that dominated discussion at the University of Missouri in the fall of 2015 were still important to many of those making suggestions at a forum Monday to identify qualities important in a new provost. University leaders are looking for a chief academic officer to replace Garnett Stokes, who is leaving after Jan. 31 to become University of New Mexico president. Jim Spain, vice provost of graduate studies and a professor of animal science, is filling in as interim provost until a permanent successor to Stokes is hired. Some comments brought back the concerns that contributed to fall 2015 protests about administrators' responses to complaints about racial incident and a lack of diversity and graduate student rights. Several speakers emphasized a new provost should promote inclusion and diversity, have experience in working with graduate students and work to improve communication and staff morale. |
| Missouri governor's proposed budget cuts higher education funding again | |
 | Higher education is under the chopping block again after Gov. Eric Greitens released his budget plan for the 2019 fiscal year Monday, where he proposed an almost $98 million cut, or 10.8 percent. While the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will gain almost $55 million in general revenue in Greitens' proposed budget, the University of Missouri System will be cut by $43 million compared to the appropriation from the previous year. This news for higher education comes after a $159 million cut the previous fiscal year. But some lawmakers -- who will have final say over the budget -- are saying the higher education cuts are too large. University of Missouri spokesman Christian Basi said it is too soon to tell how the budget cuts will impact MU and the UM System. |
| Colleges, states scramble to comply with instructor credential rules for dual-credit courses | |
| Dual-enrollment programs, in which high school students receive credit for college-level courses, have been growing rapidly. But a recent accreditor clarification about the required credentials for instructors who teach early-college-credit programs has highlighted problems relating to equity, insufficient data and the pipeline of instructors for some colleges and states. In 2015, the country's largest regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, issued a policy clarification stating that high school teachers of dual-credit courses, along with instructional college faculty members, are required to have a master's degree in the specialty they're teaching, or at least 18 graduate-level credit hours within that specialty. Some states and institutions, particularly those with significant numbers of dual-credit students, like Indiana and Minnesota, pushed HLC for an extension so they could meet the requirements. |
| U. of Arizona Provost Steps Down After Suit Claims 'Demeaning' Treatment of Female Deans | |
 | The University of Arizona's provost stepped down on Monday shortly after a lawsuit alleged gender discrimination against female deans at the hands of the university's leadership, and specifically that the provost, Andrew C. Comrie, had "a history of making sexist and demeaning comments towards female deans," among other things. In an email to the campus dated Monday, the university's president, Robert C. Robbins, said Mr. Comrie had decided "just after the new year" to step down to return to the faculty, in the School of Geography and Development. The university's vice president for communications, Chris W. Sigurdson, wrote in an email to The Chronicle that Mr. Comrie's resignation and the lawsuit were "totally unrelated." Mr. Sigurdson added that the university had not yet seen the text of the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday. |
| Less smartphone time equals happier teenager, study suggests | |
 | A precipitous drop in the happiness, self-esteem and life satisfaction of American teens came as their ownership of smartphones rocketed from zero to 73% and they devoted an increasing share of their time online. Coincidence? New research suggests it is not. In a study published Monday in the journal Emotion, psychologists from San Diego State University and the University of Georgia used data on mood and media culled from roughly 1.1 million U.S. teens to figure out why a decades-long rise in happiness and satisfaction among U.S. teens suddenly shifted course in 2012 and declined sharply over the next four years. Was this sudden reversal a response to an economy that tanked in 2007 and stayed bad well into 2012? Or did it have its roots in a very different watershed event: the 2007 introduction of the smartphone, which put the entire online world at a user's fingertips? |
SPORTS
| No. 2 Mississippi State women reach new heights after win over Tennessee | |
 | Vic Schaefer wouldn't have liked the talk in the media room Sunday following the Mississippi State women's basketball team's 71-52 victory against Tennessee. In front of a national television audience on ESPN2, MSU held Tennessee to eight points in the final 10 minutes to earn its second-straight victory at Thompson-Boling Arena, and its fourth win in the last five games in the series. The performance had plenty of media members buzzing that MSU, which improved to 20-0 and 6-0 in the Southeastern Conference, might be better than the team that won a program-record 34 games and advanced to its first appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament and lost to South Carolina in the national title game. The win helped MSU climb to a program-record No. 2 in The Associated Press poll, which was released Monday. Florida State's 50-49 victory against Louisville left MSU and No. 1 Connecticut as the only undefeated teams in Division I women's basketball. |
| Historic feat: Mississippi State at No. 2 in AP poll | |
| Mississippi State's women, the national runners-up a year ago, rose to No. 2 in the AP media poll for the first time on Monday. The Bulldogs (20-0, 6-0 SEC) finished last season No. 2 in the postseason coaches' poll, but the AP does not conduct a final poll after the NCAA tournament ends. MSU was No. 3 in both major polls last week, but second-rated Louisville lost to Florida State on Sunday. The Bulldogs won easily at then No. 6 Tennessee earlier in the day. UConn (18-0) remained the unanimous No. 1 choice of the AP's 32-member national media panel. MSU leads a contingent of six SEC teams in the rankings, including four of the top 11: defending national champ South Carolina (9), Tennessee (10), Missouri (11), Texas A&M (15) and poll newcomer Georgia (21). |
| What separates No. 2 Mississippi State from No. 1 UConn in women's hoops? | |
 | After Mississippi State defeated Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday, the Bulldogs went into the crowd to meet the portion of their fans, who traveled from Mississippi and sat in a section several rows beyond the baseline. The Bulldogs do this after every home game, too. Fans often flock to them for impromptu photo and autograph sessions. But what made this situation special was that after a short while, several Tennessee fans started asking Mississippi State players for the same requests. It was a sign of respect from folks who know and appreciate an elite women's basketball team when they see one. Yet before the Bulldogs received that kind of acknowledgement from the home fans who watched Mississippi State beat their team, 71-52, ESPN ran a graphic calling them the "Delta Devils" during in-game breaks. Mississippi State is in the odd situation of battling for national recognition it deserves in a sport with nominal presence in the country outside of a few pockets. |
| Mississippi State men back on road looking for win at Kentucky | |
| Ben Howland's shot blockers -- and he's had many of them over his 21-year head coaching career -- don't necessarily have the green light to execute their craft. If they do it the Howland way, they do it with a high conversion rate more than a high attempt rate. Howland's Mississippi State men's basketball team, now through a third of its Southeastern Conference schedule, ranks 20th in the nation in blocked shots per game and even better in Ken Pomeroy's block percentage, which measures how often a team blocks its opponents' 2-point shot attempts, where MSU ranks 17th. Yet, it doesn't block shots like most teams do. MSU will continue its method as it takes to the road 8 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN) to face Kentucky (14-5, 4-3 SEC). |
| Bulldogs hope to put together full game against Wildcats | |
 | Ask different people why Mississippi State has found itself on the wrong end of heartbreaking basketball games lately and you'll get a variety of answers. When MSU (14-5, 2-4) faces Kentucky (14-5, 0-3) on the road Tuesday night at 8 p.m., the Bulldogs will be looking to finally overcome their recent trend of frustrating losses. State has lost four of their last five games. In two of those contests, MSU had double-digit leads and let them slip away. In one, last Saturday at Alabama, the Bulldogs fought back from a 20-point hole, had the game tied with less than 2 minutes to play, but couldn't earn the victory. Tuesday night, State gets another chance, though it comes on the road where MSU has lost its last 11 games. "We can win anywhere," MSU head coach Ben Howland said. "We just have to go and play 40 minutes and have that mindset." |
| Mississippi State seeks full 40-minute effort tonight | |
| Mississippi State could be one of the teams at the top of the Southeastern Conference standings right now. But instead, the Bulldogs are 2-4 in league play after blowing big leads against Ole Miss and Auburn and also coming up short in a second half rally at Alabama over the weekend. MSU's major malfunction in those losses has been inconsistent play in one half or the other. The Bulldogs lost an 11-point lead at Ole Miss in the final 10:21 and a 13-point advantage in the second half against Auburn. It was the complete opposite on Saturday, as State fell behind by 20 in the first half at Alabama only to battle all the way back to tie the score three times in the second but fell six points shy in the final 1:14. "I don't have to bring that up to our team," said MSU coach Ben Howland. "I think they're pretty smart and they know we've been right there." Tonight the Bulldogs (14-5) will try to put a full 40-minute together as it travels to Kentucky to play at 8 p.m. on ESPN. |
| Who can provide the role of on-court leader for Mississippi State? | |
| With three minutes left and the score tied Saturday against Alabama, Nick Weatherspoon expressed disappointment in himself for not expecting a pass and then missing a layup. He quickly placed both fists on the padding beyond the backboard. As Weatherspoon ran back on defense, Lamar Peters met him at halfcourt. "He told me, don't let that frustrate me," Weatherspoon said. "He was just trying to hold me up at that point, and that's what I needed. That was good on him, an upperclassman, to help me out like that." The Bulldogs played with pride, conviction and fire in the second half, and Peters provided positive energy in the form of vocal leadership. Yet after Mississippi State failed to pull off the upset because of a nightmare first half, Aric Holman pointed to a lack of leadership as the reason behind the slow start. Mississippi State has shown flashes of leadership, but consistency in that department hasn't existed. The Bulldogs (14-4, 2-4 SEC) visit Kentucky (14-5, 4-3) Tuesday (8 p.m., ESPN) still in search of someone who can reinforce on-court objectives and hold others accountable. |
| Southern Miss hires Stephanie Radecki to coach volleyball, beach volleyball | |
 | Southern Miss athletic director Jon Gilbert announced Monday afternoon the hiring of Stephanie Radecki as the school's 11th volleyball coach. Radecki will also guide beach volleyball, which makes its debut as a sport program in the spring of 2019. Radecki comes to Southern Miss after 14 seasons of leading the volleyball program at the University of North Alabama, in which she posted a 326-154 record. Her overall collegiate head coaching mark is 337-173, which spans 15 seasons. Her 2017 squad finished 27-8 and reached the opening round of the NCAA South Regional. "This is an exciting time for Southern Miss volleyball under Stephanie Radecki's leadership," said Gilbert. "Stephanie has a proven track record of sustained success with her teams both athletically and academically. We are pleased to announce her in this position, leading two of our sports programs." |
| Allen Greene shares 'unique' journey that led him to become Auburn's athletics director | |
| Allen Greene used to stop by the baseball fields at Notre Dame almost every day on his way home from work. It was the early 2000s. Greene was in his early-to-mid 20s and working for Shamrock Net Design, LLC; a small IT department in South Bend, Ind., where he wrote computer code and ran the finances. Or, as he described it, living life as "an old, washed up, has-been." Greene's baseball career had just come to an end, and he missed the life. So Greene would stop by his old stomping grounds on the way home from work just to see his former head coach, his assistants, their players -- "just to be around the guys," he said. On one of those trips, he saw two men in suits standing along the third-base side of the field. They were Bernard Muir and Bill Scholl, the two of the highest-ranking members of Notre Dame's athletic administration. |
| Michigan State's Abuse Scandal Draws Comparisons to Penn State's | |
| As sexual-abuse victims continue to testify at the sentencing of Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University professor and USA Gymnastics physician, many people have compared the case to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal that shocked Penn State a little over six years ago. In November 2011, prosecutors charged Mr. Sandusky, the Nittany Lions former defensive coordinator, with dozens of counts of molesting young boys (he was later convicted on most of those counts and was effectively sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison). Dr. Nassar pleaded guilty late last year to seven counts of first-degree sexual assault and has been accused of sexual abuse by more than 100 young women. Like Mr. Sandusky, Dr. Nassar is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. Mr. Sandusky's youngest known victim was 7 years old. Mr. Nassar's was age 6. As Dr. Nassar's sentencing hearing has focused renewed attention on his case, many observers are asking, why has it not generated the same level of outrage as Mr. Sandusky's did? |
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